工程管理外文文献

外文文献：Projectportfoliomanagement–There’smoretoitthanwhatmanagementenactsAbstractAlthoughcompaniesmanageprojectportfoliosconcordantlywithprojectportfoliotheory,theymayexperienceproblemsintheformofdelayedprojects,resourcestruggles,stress,andalackofoverview.Basedonaresearchprojectcompromisedof128in-depthinterviewsin30companies,weproposethatakeyreasonwhycompaniesdonotdowellinrelationtoprojectportfoliomanagement(PPM)isthatPPMoftenonlycoversasubsetofon-goingprojects,whileprojectsthatarenotsubjecttoPPMtieupresourcesthatinitiallywerededicatedtoPPMprojects.WeaddressanddiscussthedilemmaofwantingtoincludeallprojectsinPPM,andaimingatkeepingtheresourceandcognitiveburdenofdoingPPMatareasonablelevel.Keywords：Managingprogrammes，Managingprojects，Organisationresources，Strategy1.IntroductionAtanygivenpointintime,mostcompaniesengageinmanyprojects.Someoftheseprojectsmayrelatetoproductdevelopmentandmarketing,othersrelatetochangesinworkprocessesandproductionflows,whileyetothersrelatetocompetencydevelopment,strategicturns,theimplementationofnewITsystems,environmentalissuesetc.Akeymanagerialtaskistodedicateresourcesacrossalloftheseprojects(aswellasdodailywork)andconsequently,managementacrossprojects(projectportfoliomanagement(PPM))iscriticaltocompanyperformance.Thispaperisbasedonalarge-scalequalitativestudy,whichshowsthatmanyproject-orientedcompaniesdonotperformwellwhenitcomestoPPM.Thisrelatestotheinabilitytoaccomplishprojectsthatareinitiated.Inparticular,weidentifythefollowingproblems:(1)Projectsarenotcompletedaccordingtoplan(ortheyevenpeteroutduringtheirprojectlifecycle);(2)Managementandemployeesfeeltheylackabroadoverviewofon-goingprojects(especiallywhenthenumberofon-goingprojectsincreasesasmoreandmoreprojectsarenotcompletedaccordingtoplan);(3)Peopleexperiencestressasresourcesarecontinuouslyreallocatedacrossprojectsinordertomakeendsmeet.Theseobservationsareespeciallyinterestingbecausethecompanieswereincludedintheresearchprojectbecausetheyweresupposedtobeespecially,experiencedinPPM,andbecausetheyactuallyengageinPPMaccordingtotheextantbodyofliteratureonPPM.Forexample,partofthecompanies’PPMincludedanefforttopickthebestprojectsonthebasisofexplicitorimplicitcriteria,andanefforttoallocatesufficientresourcestotheseprojects.However,despiteefforts,topractice‘good’PPM,thesecompaniesexperiencesevereproblemsinrelationtoPPM–especiallyinlettingenoughresourcesgointothe‘right’projects.ThepurposeofthispaperistoconfrontPPMasadvocatedbynormativetheorieswithactualPPMpractices.Hence,thepurposeistoconfrontPPMtheorieswithPPMasperceivedbymanagersandotheremployeesforwhomPPMispartof,oraffects,theirworkconditions.However,inthispaper,wearemoreinterestedinPPMasenactedbycompaniesthaninuniversallytrueperceptions.Hence,weadheretoWeick’s[1–3]notionofenactmentasthepreconceptionsthatareusedtosetasideaportionofthefieldofexperienceforfurtherattention.InregardtoPPM,enactedprojectsarethustheonesmanagementsetsasideforfurtherattention(i.e.PPM).Assuch,wefocusespeciallyonwaysactorsdefineorenactprojects[4]andmakesenseofhowtomanagethesumoftheprojects.Drawingonthisperspective,weaccountforfindingsthatsuggestwhycompaniesthatdoengageinPPMstillexperienceproblems.2.ProjectportfoliotheoryThispaperdrawsonArcherandGhasemzadeh’s[5,p.208]definitionofprojectportfoliosas‘‘agroupofprojectsthatarecarriedoutunderthesponsorshipand/ormanagementofaparticularorganization’’.Henceforth,wedefinePPMasthemanagerialactivitiesthatrelateto(1)theinitialscreening,selectionandprioritisationofprojectproposals,(2)theconcurrentreprioritisationofprojectsintheportfolio,(3)theallocationandreallocationofresourcestoprojectsaccordingtopriority.Forquitesometimeresearchershavesuggestedthatlowcompletionratesfornewproductdevelopment(NPD)projectsandnewproductfailurerelatetoresourcedeficienciesinkeyareas[6,7].Furthermore,whileahostofresearchers[8–10]havefocusedonthedimensionofPPMthatconcernsprocessesrelatingtoselectionofprojectstobeincludedintheportfolio,researche.g.[11]alsoincreasinglyfocusesontheday-todaymanagementoftheprojectportfolio.3.MethodologyOveraperiodoftwoyears,wedidempiricalresearchonhowcompaniesmanagetheirentirerangeofprojects,e.g.renewalprojects,strategicprojects,ITprojects,departmentallyspecificprojects,andproductionbasedprojects.Inrelationtotheselectionofcompaniestobeincludedintheempiricalstudy,akeycriterionwasthatthestudyshouldcoverawidevarietyofindustries.Asaresult,theempiricalstudycovers30companiesfromindustriesasdiverseas,e.g.mobiletelephonecommunications,finances,energy,pharmaceuticals,toys,software,andfoods.However,duetothefactthatwewerelookingforcompanies,wheretheamountofon-goingprojectssuggestedtheywereengagedinPPM,thestudyisbiasedtowardslargercompaniesaswellascompaniesthatdefineatleastasubstantialpartoftheiractivitiesasprojects.Thedegreetowhichthecompaniesparticipatedinthestudyvaries.Hence,halfofthecompaniesarelabelled‘innercircle’companiesduetothefactthatwedrewextensivelyonthese15companies.Forexample,inthesecompaniesmoreinterviewswereconductedatvariouspointsintimeandatvariousorganizationallevel